NATIONAL

A series of multi-billion dollar acquisitions gave Wall Street a modest advance Monday although many investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates later in the week.

Wall Street was cheered after mining company Phelps Dodge Corp. said it will pay $40 billion in cash and stock for rivals Inco Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd., while steelmaker Arcelor SA agreed to a $33 billion bid from Mittal Steel Co. In addition, Dow Jones industrial Johnson & Johnson agreed to buy fellow Pfizer Inc.’s consumer products unit for $16.6 billion.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 56.19, or 0.51 percent, to 11,045.28. Broader stock indicators also made gains. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 6.06, or 0.49 percent, at 1,250.56, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 12.20, or 0.58 percent, to 2,133.67.

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Arrowhead Research Corp. rose 7 percent to $5.12. Electro Rent Corp. gained 6.8 percent to $15.40. CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. rose 5.4 percent to $24.01. J2 Global Communications Inc. was up 5 percent to $20.75. CherokeeInc. Inc. gained 4 percent to $38.96. Cathay General Bancorp., which was rated a “buy” in new coverage by analyst Thomas Monaco at Sterne, Agee & Leach, with a price target of $39.50, closed up 4 percent to $35.97. City National Corp., which was was raised to “buy” from “hold” by analyst Michael K Diana at Citigroup Investment Research, rose 1 percent to $64.89.

National Technical Systems Inc. dropped 5.7 percent to $6.57. PC Mall Inc. fell 4.2 percent to $5.82. UTI Worldwide Inc. lost 3.3 percent to $23.93. Univision Communications Inc. fell 2.8 percent to $32.03.